My World and the Real World

Hug like a Jadoo ki Jhappi

Finally! Someone is showing us that it is ok to Hug. Thank you Munnabhai.

What is the purpose?

Why Do we do What we do?

What do we want?

The answers are plenty. Everybody out there has their own philosophy.

For me.. it’s a HUG!

Sounds simple? Well it is. But we are programmed to make it complex.

A hug is what we need to look forward to. Hugging, an exclusive trait of human beings, is grossly undervalued, especially in the society around me.

Think about it. The work we put in, the money we earn, the time we spend, the family we have – the purpose is simple. To get a Hug.

Life is good when you hug. The more time you put in, the more hugs you give and get, the better is the quality of life. Hugs from/to your parents, your wife, your children all mean the world to us. But don’t stop there, share your hugs with your friends, other children, strangers and more.

My dictionary will say – A simple gesture of circling your hands around a fellow human being, one neck in the cradle of the other, fingers caressing the spine, bringing them closer and closer towards yourself, until there is no longer any distance – either physical or emotional.

A complex form of simple movements designed to bring peace to two souls.

We give and receive hugs for various emotions – In happiness, in sorrow, with concern, with love, with care, in support. The act itself does not last longer than a few seconds, but the memory, the feeling lasts for an entire day.

Maybe we all need to maintain a Hug-O-Meter. Add hugs into it, try to fill it to the brim. Making it the goal of the day. Adding this to the top of the goals like how productive you were, did you help someone today, did you do justice to your work. Well, did you hug enough today?

We eat to survive

We drink to survive

We breathe to survive

We HUG to Live.

Around me?

Unfortunately, the society around us overlooks this miracle of human movement. As a child, you are expected to do so, but as an adult you better be aware who you hug in public.

Someone decided that it is “embarrassing” to hug another adult in public and it is plain wrong to do so with a member of the opposite sex, especially if they are young.I call this “under observation” freedom. Someone decided and we all follow as “decent” citizens.

South India is not built for hugging, at least in public. There is a scarcity of hugs, you better use them wisely.

Almost a hug

I remember a colleague from Thoughworks who made fun of my forced hugs. I never hugged another guy before.

Every time I dropped him off at his place, he would come around and hug, while I tried something like a hug. Luckily there was no one around to witness that. Okay if you are thinking that? don’t. Neither of us is gay.

Over time, it helped, it became easier to do the act of hugging. Now I freely give out hugs to my mom. I still can’t pull myself to hug my friends though. Maybe a girlfriend, but definitely not a dude.

I found that saying sorry is much easier with a hug. If you are mileage conscious person, I guarantee that you can get a lot of it 🙂

Hugging Amma (Amma means mother) from Tamil Nadu has shown the world the spiritual healing nature of a simple warm hug. She hugged millions. People have traveled thousands of kilometers to get a hug from her.